The Functional Path is a path that had been traveled many times before but had fallen out of use in favor of smoother paved roads that promised faster and easier results. Seeking to follow and better define the functional path is a continuing journey, fortunately it is a journey that many have traveled before. Functional Path training is getting back to the basics of movement. It is learning to tune into the body and it’s inherent wisdom to produce rhythmic flowing movement.

The mission of this program is to develop a cadre of experts to define the field of Athletic Development by educating professionals in foundational principles and methodology. Apprentorship = Apprenticeship + Mentorship, combines the features of both into a unique interactive blend of theory and practice in a five-day residential coaching school. This is an opportunity to observe, question, and explore the application of the Gambetta Method - Systematic Sport Development Model of training and injury rehabilitation.

Personal Development

August 01, 2017

As a young coach, I was sure I knew everything and I was dumb enough to tell everyone who would listen and some who would not. I thought a lot of the old coaches were out of it, behind the times. They did not subscribe to the latest fads and speak in fancy jargon, they just consistently produced results. My biggest regret is taking too long to figure this out. Those old coaches knew what they did know and they did it very well they seldom if ever strayed from the basics. When they did speak, it was with wisdom and authority. Most of the time they just listened and occasionally asked questions. When they did ask a question, it was very incisive and to the point. It was something they wanted to know. Now as an old coach I realize there is so much more that I don’t know than I do know. As I continue the journey I am working on closing the gap. Learning to ask better questions and eternally thankful for the continuing opportunity. Be sure to listen to those old coaches they probably have made mistakes you don't have to repeat.

You will be surprised at what you have been missing. Use technology to complement what you do, not to replace it. Know yourself and your athletes, never forget you are coaching people who run, jump, and throw.

July 26, 2017

Good coaches have mentors and role models. My first mentor and role was my high school basketball coach. He was the most influential person in my life up to that time aside from my parents. He taught me the value of structure and self-discipline. He also instilled in my teammates and me that it is was more than the ninety minutes of practice that made you better it was lifestyle. He did not call it the twenty-four hour athlete but that was what he was teaching us. It was a total commitment to the pursuit of excellence.

We cannot do it alone. It always helps to have guidance from someone who has been there before. No need to make the same mistakes and relearn the lessons they learned, learn from others experiences. That being said it is important to forge your own coaching style that suits your personality that maximizes your strengths minimizes your weaknesses. Seth Godin put it quite well when he said “don’t try to be the ‘next’. Instead, try to be the other, the changer, the new.” Be yourself.

Excellent coaches are learners. The learning can be formal or informal, the key is to keep learning and growing. Arie de Geus said it best “Probably the only sustainable competitive advantage we have, is the ability to learn faster than then opposition.” To be the best demands that you expand your horizons that you go outside you’re your coaching specialty and outside of sport to seek continual improvement and find new ideas. I will never forget asking Eddie Jones, current coach of England Rugby, where he got an idea and his answer was quite revealing: from the Belgium women’s filed hockey team! That is why he is a great coach; he leaves no stone unturned in his pursuit of being the best. Frankly great coaches who epitomize coaching excellence innovate, they are open to new ideas and are constantly learning. The coaches who are average imitate, they do what they have always done, and they never risk and try anything new for fear of failure, so they end up failing.

How much time do you devote each day and each week toward your professional development? Joe Vigil PHD, a great coach and mentor does an hour of professional development reading each morning at 5:00 am. He has been coaching for close to 70 years and is now 88 years old! Nort Thornton, one of the greatest swim coaches ever, shares ideas from books we have read and challenge each other’s ideas on training on a periodic basis. He has been coaching for sixty plus years and is in his late seventies. You are never too old or too knowledgeable to stop learning. Keep learning and keep growing.

Never stop learning and challenging yourself to get better. Just about the time you think you have it figured out, some new ideas will arise to challenge you. Stay ahead of the curve, be proactive, do not copy and follow, innovate and lead. Get out of your comfort zone, for me it is mastering technologies that will make me better and more productive. The only way you can do that is continual professional development. Christopher Morley said it best "Read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, every day, something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to be always part of unanimity."

July 25, 2017

It is absolutely necessary to have a clearly defined philosophy of coaching. It was be more than just words. It must live in your everyday actions as a coach. To help guide your philosophy and stay on course it is necessary to have a working compass oriented to true north. Nothing changes under pressure, adversity or with challenges. You stay the course because your philosophy is the foundation of your coaching beliefs and the beacon that guides you.

Humility is a virtue than underlies coaching excellence. It requires an ability to accept criticism and deflect praise. Coaching excellence demands a strong self-belief coupled with humility. Coaching is not I, me, me, rather it is us, we and them. Great coaches are not the center of attention; they are facilitators, the conductors of the orchestra. They make sure all the pieces are in place. They know how to insure that everyone is on the bus in the correct seats and that the bus driver has a good current road map to the destination. Good coaching is athlete centered, coach driven and administratively supported, it is not coach centered. I know this is news to some of the huge egos that have prowled the sidelines over the years, but people did not come to see them, they came to watch the athletes perform. Great coaches are there in victory and defeat to lend perspective after the wins and comfort after loses.

Great coaches are leaders, not followers. They lead from the front through example, not just words. They are teachers who look for every opportunity to teach and to learn. They are always working to improve their skills, not just technical skills, but interpersonal skills. The spotlight is on the athlete; the coach’s job is to make them better people and better athletes. Coaching is FUNdamental. You can have fun while teaching and guiding people toward excellence. Coaching is not a grind.

Coaching excellence does not come easy it is a process that demands that you pay your dues. There is an old saying that you don’t enlist in the army as a general. You earn the right to progress each step of the journey. Every step of the way the coach must expect excellence and demand excellence from himself and those he is coaching. Excellence and its continuous pursuit then becomes a habit. Hard intelligent work is the price of admission for an opportunity to be the best. But it is more than hard work, it is work guided by your philosophy executed with intent and purpose.

What kind of coach do you want to be? Do you want to be the best? It is your choice! There are no boundaries or limits. Clearly define where you want to go, delineate the steps along the way, continually assess progress toward the goal and adjust if necessary. 99% of the time the only person standing in your way is you, so define your mission and if you fail, fail forward, get up and keep moving. No need to try harder, try different but keep trying.

July 24, 2017

(Introduction - This is the first of a four part post that I think is particularly important at this time and place. These are my ideas and observations on coaching excellence and coaching for excellence. Hopefully it will stimulate some thought, discussion and most importantly action.)

The cornerstone of high performance is coaching. There can be no performance excellence without coaching excellence. For me as for any coach who wants to achieve excellence it is a journey, a journey of constant learning and practice. I have been fortunate to be a coach for 48 years and the journey continues. My goal is to share with you from my experiences what the characteristics of coaching excellence are.

As an athlete in high school I quickly recognized that coaching was the difference maker. I saw a small school the same size as my school with very similar demographics achieve a high standard of performance. I wondered why. It became apparent that the difference was coaching. That school had a coach who was different. He did not talk about excellence he demanded it, not in a dictatorial bombastic manner but in his actions. His teams were prepared, they were ready to compete, and they did not panic, they thrived in competition.

In my senior year in high we rose to a new level in basketball, why because of coaching. My coach raised the standard and all subsequent expectations. He got all of us totally committed and absorbed in the process. At a young age all of this underscored for me how important coaching was. I became of student of coaching. I was fascinated with the process. Regardless of the sport I could see that coaching made the difference. At the highest levels of sport talent is a given, but I could see that it was what was done with that talent that made the difference. It was the coaching.

Coaching is not something you do; it is something you are with every fiber of your being. Jerry Garcia sums it up quite well: “ You do not merely want to be the best of the best, you want to considered the only ones who do what you do.” Be unique, be special and make all of those around special. There is no halfway in the path to coaching excellence. The only way to be excellent is to be all in all the time. How can you expect that of your athletes if you not leading by example?

June 23, 2017

As one who is not given to hyperbole GAIN was too short but it sure was spectacular, it was easily the best we have ever had. After ten years, we don’t have it figured out but we sure are on our way. GAIN is not a conference, it is an event, an event that is meant facilitate networking and building a community of professionals who will question and challenge each other to be the best. It directed in four prongs 1) Athletic Development 2) Sport Coaching 3) Sports Medicine/Rehabilitation 4) Physical Education with the goal to foster communication and sharing between these disciplines.

So many people have gone into making GAIN what it is today. I want to recognize them with a special thank you

Melissa Gambetta (My Wife) – The brains behind the operation, the person who does all the hard stuff to make it run smoothly

Ed Ryan who graciously gives up his time each year out of his busy schedule to do the onsite operations

Tommy McHugh AKA Tommy Tech who does all the filming, manages the web page and his dad Patrick McHugh who helps him

Michael Joyner MD, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine. He has done extensive work in Physiology of Elite Athletes. Elite athletic performances are experiments in nature on the limits of human physiology. Dr. Joyner uses data from real-world competitions to understand the limits of human physiology.

John Pryor, Former conditioning coach Japan Rugby, now the conditioning coach for Suntory Rugby, Brumbies in Super Rugby and Fiji.

Jim Radcliffe, Head S&C Coach University of Oregon, a pioneer and a true master of the profession.

April 17, 2017

You know John Wooden, you know Geno Auriemma at UConn or the late Pat Summit but how about Jim Steen? While the coach at Kenyon College the men’s team won twenty­-nine consecutive National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III championship titles while the women’s teams won twenty­-one. That record of fifty titles surpasses those of any other coaches in any NCAA sport. I had the privilege of working with Jim’s teams for two of the championships, but even better than that every spring Jim comes to Sarasota with his family and we get together for lunch. His passion and energy and wisdom are so contagious it always gets me charged up. As an aside I have NEVER heard Jim talk about mental toughness!

This is Jim’s 2011 commencement address at Keyon College:

Do you have the imagination to see yourself doing something truly exceptional?

Coaching Session

We're ready for our coaching session. This is a little larger team than I am used to, but let's give it a shot. I'm not going to ask you get up and move around or stand up and cheer. This session is definitely not interactive. Like generations of Kenyon swimmers, all you have to do is sit there and take it! Decide for yourself if anything makes sense or if you have a better way of looking at things.

I have three coaching points I want to make with you today, and they all relate to one's capacity to perform. Before I begin, however, allow me the one convention of this business that I fully embrace, for reasons that aren't necessarily related to sports. (Steen replaces academic cap with baseball cap).

OK, thanks. I'm ready to go!

Attitude

So, how's your attitude?

Probably pretty good today. What's not to be good? You've successfully made it from point A to point B and tomorrow you'll have all the necessary credentials to prove it!

What's your attitude going to be like on Monday? Or next month? Or next fall? I'm sure some of you have jobs lined up, many of you are off to graduate school, a few of you will be traveling, and still others are uncertain about what you're going to be doing in the next few weeks, let alone the next few years. From my point of view that's OK, because regardless of what you're doing next week or next year, things will change and, in some cases, things will change dramatically. What's most important in this whole process, however, is attitude.

Back in the mid-90s I had a big, strapping sprinter on my team, with a big booming voice, who won a couple of NCAA titles in the 50-yard freestyle. Fortunately, everybody on the team liked this guy, because when anyone was having a difficult practice, or a bad meet, or an awful day in class, or a problem with coach, his comment was always the same, "Hey, man, it's all about attitude!" No doubt, an individual of lesser stature offering the same admonition over and over again would have been persecuted! Even though this guy wasn't the hardest worker on the team, or the most talented, no one ever doubted the direction he was going.

And that's what's important to remember about attitude. It's not whether it's good or bad, but does it define your direction? If the best path in getting from point A to point B is due north, I've had very few individuals on my team who have made the serious choice to head south! People usually fall short because they're a degree or two off in attitude and, over time and distance that can put you in a place far away from where you would like to be.

You may have honestly assessed what constitutes a journey in the right direction, but if you're not performing the way you want to perform don't look at what you're doing, look at your attitude.

On my team, when I challenge someone's attitude—and I love doing that—it's not an attack on their character. It's a belief in their ability to get back on course.

What you have made of your life today is a result of the attitude you established for yourself when you came to this place in the fall of 2007. Your life in the future will be the result of the attitude you set for yourself when you leave this hallowed ground. If you're fortunate to have people in your life like you've had here at Kenyon—people you trust, people who know and appreciate you well enough to look you in the eye and remind you that you can do better, listen to them and make the necessary adjustment in your attitude. The worst position to be in is not slightly off course, and it's doubtful that any of you are deliberately going to head due south. The worst position to be in is a belief by you, or those around you, that you couldn't possibly do any better than you're currently doing!

Imagination

We've pretty much redefined attitude as it relates to performance. Let's take a look at your capacity to prepare.

How is your work ethic?

Is it helping you or hurting you in your capacity to perform? During your time on the Hill did you give it your best? Or did you avoid putting in the time and effort necessary to fully take advantage of your opportunities?

Regardless of how you performed at Kenyon, we can all agree—whether we subscribe to the 10,000-hour rule or not—that a sustained period of focused attention and applied effort is absolutely essential in getting better at anything that really matters. And, yet, hard work, in my experience, is not the sole determinant of one's capacity to achieve. In fact, one's sense of what can be accomplished in any endeavor—what is truly possible—is often compromised by too much hard work and too little imagination. All work and no play may make Jack a dull boy, but all work and no imagination will most definitely make Jack an under-performer. Of this I'm absolutely convinced!

It's been my experience that the hardest workers are not always the most prolific performers. The correlation between grinding it out, day in and day out, and the capacity to perform at transcendent levels does not always appear to be direct. In discussing this with my fellow coaches on the faculty over the years, I've picked up on similar sentiments. The student who puts in the work is not always the student who is the most creative and engaged in their thinking. If you have a limited imagination—a limited concept of what's possible—then performing in a truly exceptional manner at any level, in any arena, is improbable at best, irrelevant at worst.

You may have the talent to excel. You may have the intelligence to excel. You may have the work ethic and competitiveness to excel. But the real question is: do you have the imagination and creativity to continuously 'reframe' your reality so it is consistent with your highest aspirations? Imagination fuels perspective and perspective puts one in touch with the bigger picture. The bigger picture, in turn, allows for more possibilities and more ideas. Performing at one's best begins with the creation and expression of an idea—nothing more, nothing less.

Do you have the imagination to see yourself doing something truly exceptional? Certainly it's difficult to sustain a leap of the imagination that isn't, in part, grounded in the knowledge and appreciation of one's inherent abilities. But it's been my experience that people greatly under value their capacity to perform and, as a result, their capacity to achieve.

Imagination can be improved. Committing the best of yourself to any worthwhile endeavor requires that you do so. By attaching your efforts to whatever it is you choose to do in a way that stimulates your imagination, you enhance your capacity to perform at any level. To quote no less a 'performer' than Albert Einstein on this subject,

"Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere." Threats vs. Challenges

My final coaching point of the day: It's my contention that in any given moment one lives one's life in one of two ways, either under a threat or for a challenge. In performing when it counts, it's one or the other, under a threat or for a challenge. If, as Einstein says, "Imagination will take you everywhere," then living your life under a threat will take you nowhere.

Perceived threats, often resulting in fear, invariably compromise our capacity to perform in the manner we most desire. And there are all sorts of perceived threats that ultimately reduce us in stature, making us feel small, insignificant, and powerless. There is the threat of failure. The threat of not measuring up. The threat of pain. The threat of humiliation. The threat of illness or injury. The threat of not being appreciated or valued. The threat of being exposed for who we are. The threat of not being understood. And the list goes on and on.

It's so easy to live one's life threatened by the outcome we fear that we deaden our senses to the process, content to merely occupy time and space, satisfied with a half-life of sorts. We go through the motions, occasionally wake up, look for our shadow, and quickly scurry back into our den of predictability.

Sound familiar?

And yet it is possible to reframe our threats into challenges and get a much better return on our performance investment with little more time and effort involved. In doing so, you first have to wake up. You have to be among the living! A conscious decision needs to be made that you're not going to allow the same threats to keep undermining your performance.

Second, you have to be honest with yourself, recognizing and acknowledging that which most threatens you. It has to be disclosed to someone you trust. It can't continue to remain a secret.

Third, you need to cultivate the two qualities we talked about earlier that are fundamental to one's capacity to perform—discipline and risk—and then you need to know how and where to apply these qualities most effectively in reframing threats into challenges. Discipline and risk, when applied directly to living one's life for the challenge, have a way of offsetting the threats that tend to compromise our capacity to perform.

Ask and answer the following questions:

Do you have the capacity to see the challenge in any situation in which you feel threatened? Do you have the discipline to prepare for and stay focused on the challenge? Are you willing to risk predictability in pursuit of the challenge?

If the challenge itself becomes your truth in any endeavor, can you really be threatened? Risk waking up to see your world for what it truly is—a playing field of limitless challenges designed for your personal edification and enlightenment. That being the case, and it is, what threat, if any, awaits you? Only one. Not playing the game.

Conclusion

Herein concludes our coaching session, but on Monday you start a new game. The good news is your attitude, imagination, and ability to see challenges where previously you saw only threats has been sharpened significantly during your time at Kenyon.

David Brooks, in a recent New York Times column, suggests that high performing individuals "begin with two beliefs: (1) the future can be better than the present, and (2) I have the power to make it so."

When you leave the Hill this weekend accept the challenge of starting over, attempt to perform well in some capacity, and, if you are successful in becoming a somebody at something (and many of you will), I would offer you the following advice Jon Stewart gave his audience at a show in Columbus a few weeks ago:

March 06, 2017

I am convinced that going forward in sport the biggest gains and the so called marginal gains too will come from how we get better at getting better. How we can improve our teaching, how we make practice and training more meaningful and effective will be the biggest difference makers. I am going to make this a major focus for the rest of my career. In that spirit, I am sharing with you this list of resources. This is by no means exhaustive, it is just the books I have in my library that I have read. I am now in the process of re-reading some of these books and going through them all and reviewing the annotations and underlinings to put together an action plan of principles we can all use as coaches. It's going to take some time. I am interested in hearing from you about other resources and ideas in this area. We will all get better at getting better by sharing.

February 27, 2017

Each year for have a theme that serves as a focal point for our presentations and discussions for that year. This year our theme is:

Making Connections to Foster Meaningful Change & Innovation

The central focus of GAIN is the network of professionals to be able to connect and share, since this is the tenth meeting of GAIN and we want to emphasize the connections in the network more than ever. There is strength and wisdom in connections and it is through connections that meaningful change can and does occur. If you are interested in meaningful change and learning join us. To apply go: http://www.thegainnetwork.com/